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Blog Technology Web Design

Benefits of Custom Web Development

Custom Web Development

Creating a website used to be a big, troublesome task only a decade ago, but now, things have changed; not to mention it has become much easier. With web development platforms such as WordPress, even those who don’t have a single clue about coding can take matters into their own hands and create websites single-handedly. However, there are certain instances when using such a platform just wouldn’t work for custom web development.

At times like these, entrepreneurs need to make a few tough decisions and dive deeper into the entire web development process. One of these tough decisions might be choosing between pre-made templates for websites or opting for custom web development. Both have their pros and cons, and the solution is mainly subjective. However, sometimes you need custom development as the specific benefits it has may prove to be just the thing that will provide you with a competitive edge in the digital world.

Custom web development

Web development is the process of building, creating and maintaining websites. It’s what keeps the site going, i.e. allows it to load correctly on every browser and system. It is also the engine that processes e-commerce transactions, collects leads and downloads digital documents. It’s the engine of your site and it‘s digital presence.

It’s important to know that web development can either break or make your site’s popularity and profitability. It’s not all about the looks of the site, but features, speed, compatibility are crucial factors that will play an important role in your website’s success. This is where trained, professional web developers come into play.

Custom web development enables you to create a unique website and gain that competitive edge over others in your industry. Going with pre-made templates can also do the trick, however, if you are looking for something that will stand out, custom might be the route you should take.

Benefits of custom web development

Visual effectiveness and user experince

Aesthetics play an important role in driving traffic and boosting sales. In custom web development, you have more options to make your website visually effective and appealing to users. This results in higher user engagement and ensures efficient communication with visitors.

Moreover, custom-built websites are user-friendly. The developers anticipate user expectations and tailor the development process accordingly. For a successful online presence, it is important that you develop the website around your business needs and target audience. This is why custom-built websites provide a better and enjoyable user experience.

Serves the long-term purpose 

People in the industry know that custom web platforms yield more ROI when compared to pre-made designs, even though they are more costly. Custom websites are built with the customer, their business objectives and audience in mind. This means that every move the developers make serves your business to increase conversion rates and generating more profit.

Personalization and localization

Nobody likes to interact with robots. Internet users today are far more demanding and want a website to understand their needs and offer them personalized solutions. This makes them feel special, and a personalized experience tends users to stay longer on your website and visit it on a regular basis.

In custom web development you have the advantage to customize the web pages and offer visitors a personalized experience based on his location and demographics. This is why a custom-built are more trusted and live longer as compared to premade templates.

SEO and visibility

One of the most important reasons why digital marketers prefer custom-built websites is that they help the website to achieve better search engine rankings. There is intense competition for visibility, and a fact that is often overlooked is that web development and SEO go hand in hand. Search engines prefer custom-built website because it is personalized and user-friendly. Another important factor for better ranking is mobile-friendliness. In custom web development you have more opportunities to make your website mobile optimized and provide a seamless user experience to visitors on the mobile phone.

Flexibility to make amendments

You know your business will change or grow with time, thus your site also needs to progress with time. When you use a free template, you will bring your website to a standstill. Your features and functionality are limited. However, if you go for custom website development, you get complete flexibility to customize your site as and when you want. You can update your website over time and ensure that your developer will keep it updated with the trends and advancements of the internet. This consistency will enhance your ranking and credibility.

Better performance due to optimization

When you get a standard website from an online site building platform, it usually has a set of features that you cannot get rid of. Unused and superfluous functionality creates an additional load on your website’s performance.

Custom web development solves this problem by giving you exactly what need, nothing less and nothing more. For example, one custom Drupal module can replace a few free ones, because it is created specifically for you. This boosts performance, prevents conflicts, eliminates complexity, and provides for the smooth functioning of the website. We should note that in custom web development there are also more opportunities for its improvement.

Complete support

So you developed a template-based website and the server just crashed or a plugin isn’t working as effectively; what do you do next? With custom web designs, this hassle is completely eliminated. You will have a go-to person, i.e. your developer to reach in case anything goes amiss with the website.

As these reasons make custom web design more reliable and efficient than DIY templates, you should definitely consider hiring a professional team for your business. At NYX Ditech, we are driven to provide our clients with turnkey web design and development solutions. Schedule an appointment with us for a detailed discussion about your website, business, and goals.

Read more about services we offer in Web Development here

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Blog Brand & Identity Technology

Product Management vs Project Management

Product management and project management are both essential concepts for any company which looks forward to meeting its business goals. The fierce competition in today’s business landscape has pushed companies to re-design its business strategy and with this, the importance of new roles like product manager and project manager has only increased. While the titles are similar, project management and product management are completely two different things. This article will focus on the actual definition of these two roles, distinct differences, and responsibilities.

Product and Project

A product is anything that can be offered to a market to solve a problem or to satisfy a want or need. It can be a physical product, a software, or a service that satisfies the needs of a group of users. On the other hand, a project is a temporary endeavor that is undertaken to create a unique product or service. It has a start, an end date, and a defined outcome.

With a project, there is a clear definition of what needs to be delivered by a specified time. Products have a life cycle that consists of multiple stages. A product can only be developed within the context of a project, and multiple projects can occur within a product’s life cycle.

Product Management vs Project Management

Product management is an organizational function within a company that involves planning, forecasting, and production or marketing of a product or products at all stages of the product life cycle. Project management involves the application of processes, methods, knowledge, skills, and experience to achieve the objectives of a specific project.

Role of a Product Manager

A product manager’s role is strategic, much like a CEO, but for the specific product, instead of the company. They study and analyze market conditions to layout a product vision accordingly, to deliver a product that meets customer demands. His role covers different activities from strategic to tactical and acts as a collating force between different teams like engineering, sales, marketing, and support. They take complete responsibility for the overall and continual success of a product throughout the entire product lifecycle.

Responsibilities that fall under a product manager include:

  • Gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements
  • Defining the product vision
  • Identifying problems and opportunities
  • Deciding which opportunities are to be addressed
  • Creating a roadmap
  • Prioritizing development tickets
  • Conducting organizational training

Working with sales and marketing teams to ensure revenue and customer satisfaction goals are met

More than handling the above-mentioned responsibilities, it involves a lot of product sense. A good product manager must have a strong product intuition to know the right time to move the product from alpha to beta tests. They do understand when should the release be delayed due to bugs or improper functioning of certain features. They also take decisions to discontinue a product or a part of it when it no longer makes an economic sense.

Product managers are also responsible for the profit and loss function of a product. A product manager works closely with various teams like sales, marketing etc. to make sure that the overall business goals are achieved and the project revenue numbers are achieved. Also, it’s their responsibility to ensure a competitive edge over others.

Role of a Project Manager

A project manager is responsible for the successful delivery of a project. They need to ensure that the project is delivered within the pre-decided deadline and approved budget. Project managers work in tandem with product managers and manage the development of the product by arranging all the resources required during the product development period. Risk mitigation and solution of any issues roadblocking the project also falls under a project manager’s responsibilities.

One of the most difficult tasks for a project manager is managing the scope of the project. Striking a balance between costs, quality and time is a tough job and requires a logical approach with decision-making capabilities. In situations wherein they have to cut down on the costs incurred during a project, they have to increase the scope and deadline of the project. Similarly, they need to increase the cost if they wish to shorten the deadline to deliver the project. In any situation, their core objective is to maximize quality while minimizing risk.

Some of the responsibilities that fall under a project manager include:

  • Leading the team to deliver a successful project
  • Planning and resource scheduling
  • Risk management
  • Issue management
  • Creating new versions or extensions of a product
  • Managing a team of designers and developers, and tracking their work
  • Managing the scope of the project
  • Keeping the project on time and within budget
  • Client handling
  • Using project management tools to accomplish tasks

Conclusion

Project management focuses internally to achieve specific objectives and complete a given project on time and under budget. Product Management takes a broader view and focuses externally on the customer and the overall and continued success of the project. Product managers deal with technical issues while project managers handle more functional issues. It’s possible that a single person performs both the roles, however, in an ideal situation, it’s best to separate these roles in order to enhance the performance and avoiding conflict of interests. Talk more about it with our industry experts.

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Blog Brand & Identity Design Web Design

Hiring A Product Manager? Read This

In our recent blog post, we highlighted the role of a Product Manager, their primary areas of contribution and how a Product Manager builds a brand. In today’s world, companies have identified the importance of a Product Manager and how crucial is their role in deciding the future of a company. That’s why companies need to be really careful while hiring the right people for this job role. In this article, we will discuss how you can hire a great Product Manager for your company; what are the traits and capabilities to look for in a candidate during the interview process?

Let’s go!

The most important aspect of hiring the right people, especially as a Product Manager, is to zero-down on certain skills and traits which help them justify this challenging job role. These attributes can be further categorized into must have, need to have and good to have. Here are some of the important characteristics that one must look for while hiring great Product Managers:

1. Must Be A Problem Solver

A Product Manager faces a lot of challenges, roadblocks, and problems on a day-to-day basis. It’s their problem-solving skills that come to rescue here. A lot of product leaders and CEOs have told us that problem-solving ability is the most valued trait of a PM. Product development is a tricky role. Everyone needs to be on their feet during the entire product cycle and must be ready to face unseen challenges. Successfully driving a product into the market requires plenty of creative solutions to unexpected problems.

A natural problem-solving aptitude along with creative thinking is the key to success for a Product Manager. That said, don’t throw random riddles and aptitude questions at the PM candidate during the interview. It will simply set them off and then there’s only one direction the interview will go – southwards. Instead, give them some breathing space; ask them about their previous role. Let them tell you about their background, what and how have they achieved something in the past. Later on, introduce them to the company and the product. Ask them how will they manage and improve it. Problem-solving and creative thinking will gradually and naturally surface during this conversation.

2. Communication Skills Must Be Above Par

Effective communication skills are very important to be a good or great PM. Even if a candidate possesses skills like solid product management background, experience in the relevant industry, strong technical knowledge, that PM is likely to be ineffective if he cannot clearly and effectively communicate with professionals across a wide range of disciplines and teams in your company.

Product managers spend a lot of their time communicating ideas, plans, tasks, and designs to their teams. The communication includes emails communicating decisions, presentations communicating product roadmaps, specs communicating product designs, bug tickets communicating errors in the product and a lot more. Moreover, it is important for a PM to effectively communicate his vision, ideas, and strategy to various stakeholders in the company. Mastering effective communication is critical for this role.

3. Strong Product Instincts Will Do Wonders

It’s a little tricky and difficult to evaluate when it comes to product instincts. But, these are very important traits that make a great future PM. Some people are born with inherited product instincts. They just know what makes a great product. They may not be always right, but they certainly sense the right direction and correct path. It’s an essential trait in Product Managers.

Apart from the big thinking, long-term goal setting and formation strategy, there are a lot of other small decisions that a Product Manager needs to take. A strong product instinct enables them to take the correct decisions and suggest product approaches.
You can ask questions like:

  • Tell me about a great product you’ve encountered recently. Why do you like it?
  • What do you dislike about my product? How would you improve it?
  • What problems do you think our product will encounter in the near future?
  • What’s one of the best ideas you’ve ever had?
  • What is one of the worst?
  • What was your biggest product mistake?

4. Should Have Natural Leading Ability

A natural ability to lead is something which is essential in almost all critical roles when you have a large team to work with. Product managers have the difficult role of coordinating and leading a large cross-functional team. They must possess natural leadership skills. A great PM will have the ability to build a strong bond and generate enthusiasm among the various teams and departments which are responsible for developing the product. This is an uphill task. Often the PM will have to say no to requests from these teams or push them to work on tighter deadlines and deliver with limited resources.

Give them some hypothetical situations where leadership skills are required. Try to find out how they react and lead from the front.

5. Should Be Able to Learn From Mistakes

It’s not necessary that you’re always right, or you always take the right path. Failure is an inevitable part of life. Smart, visionary product leaders take a holistic view and a long-term view. They understand and realize that any product, strategy or idea can fail in any specific market for a number of reasons.

It’s important to gauge how a PM will react at the first product disappointment. They should not totally fall apart, instead react appropriately, analyze the reasons for failure, and then start gathering useful learnings that can increase chances of success the next time you launch the product.

How would you react to an underwhelming product launch or a new product that received a negative reaction from the market? This could be one of the interesting questions which you can ask during the interview. Some of them will tell you they’d be devastated by a product failure, some will not be so much disappointed. However, the key is how are they going to react after accepting the failure.

Hopefully, this information will help you in hiring an amazing Product Manager. To know more, discuss with our industry experts.

Categories
Blog Brand & Identity Technology

How A Product Manager Builds The Brand

Products Manager

Product Manager has become a common job profile over the last decade or so. With changing trends and innovation of different business strategies, the importance of a Product manager has been recognized by the industry. Product management is a complex, challenging role that needs to manage requirements and deliver quality products that align with the business’ goals.

Who is a Product Manager?

A Product Manager is someone who is responsible for understanding the market, audience and demand for a software, hardware or service. In more technical terms, they are the ones responsible for creating new products, its purposes, assortment policy, pricing, market analysis, product requirements, promotion and KPI planning. They are a connection between the market and the product team during development, representing the voice of the customer. They manage the portfolio of products they are responsible for, in order to maximize sales and profitability.

Key Responsibilities

It’s a Product Manager’s responsibility to drive the product’s or service’s success. They often are required to manage a cross-functional team whose members are directly or indirectly contributing to the development of the product or service and are constantly a part of the success journey. The role of a Product Manager is especially important for IT companies. The product manager determines the strategy, important functions for the product or the product line and visualizes a roadmap. Often, this position includes marketing functionality, forecasting profits, and possible losses.

Key Skills Required

Product managers have in-depth knowledge of the products necessary to lead the team and make strategic decisions. Additionally, they must possess some professional and personal qualities to justify their role.

Professional skills include marketing strategies, project management of product, service development, financial modelling, pricing, budgeting, qualitative and quantitative research, technical documentation, user documentation, product promotion, PR etc.

Personal qualities include business negotiations and presentations, professional communication skills, time management, high level of managerial decision-making, customer-centricity, multitasking, high responsibility, leadership in setting tasks and delegating, team building skills, the ability to motivate, self-development etc.

There are certain key areas wherein a Product Manager primarily contributes:

1. Idea Generation

Every company strives to develop the best ideas for implementation. In the process, a lot of new ideas come up and one has to choose ‘the idea’ from them. It is not always easy to determine priorities. The product manager’s responsibility is to study and analyze ideas and manage their priorities.
A good Product Manager will have the ability to analyse and decide that which of the many ideas is most feasible to be converted into a product, within a reasonable time frame.

2. Building Strategies

Once the idea is ready, a Product Manager must be able to create a vision for the product lifecycle and set a global strategy. The important task is to justify the business value of the product for the team so that everyone understands the importance and usefulness of releasing a new product.

Then comes the product road-mapping. Product managers coordinate all the ideas in the product roadmap and decide the priorities. A smart product roadmap helps product managers to collate and systematize all ideas and initiatives, plan the implementation and share with everyone involved.

3. Market and Competitor Analysis

The Product Manager constantly surveys and monitors the market to effectively identify customer needs and trends. He also maintains awareness of competitive products, potential competitive products, competitors and competitor capabilities. The data collected through these analyses is converted into meaningful information by the Product Manager, which is then utilized during the development of a new product. Study of competitive actions and the strength/weaknesses of competitive products help in the development of sales projections.

4. Product Forecasting

The Product Manager takes a reasoned and sensible approach to develop forecasts around customer demand and ensures that the forecast is maintained even as the customer demand changes. The variances between forecasted and actual product demand is regularly monitored and analysed to make changes to the forecasting approach, if needed.

5. Features Analysis

Product managers analyze the features, comparing them with the strategic goals and initiatives of the company. This often requires the adoption of complex trade-offs, because efficiency must be high both for customers and the company. Therefore, the interaction with the development team and product manager’s technical background are quite important.

6. Product Releases

Planning and managing the actions of the product and development team is also a Product Manager’s responsibility, regardless of the development methodology the team works with. The manager is responsible for the release process and coordination actions before the product enters the market. These actions include removal of obstacles, bugs fixing, marketing, support and sales teams.

7. Manage Product Lifecycle

Based on product performance, the Product Manager determines when actions are needed to upgrade, improve, revise or re-position products, or when actions are needed to revise promotions and pricing. They also determine when to discontinue existing products and migrate customers to a new product.

The role of a Product Manager is pivotal in driving the success of a product or service and implementing the business strategy. There are many other areas where a Product Manager contributes. Talk to our experts to know more.